Christ III

*Christ III*
Christ III
Also known as	Christ C
Author(s)	Anonymous
Language	Old English
Series	Old English Christ triad, along with Christ I and Christ II, constituting lines 867–1664
Manuscript(s)	Exeter Book, fos. 20b–32a
Genre	Religious poem
Subject	Last Judgment

Christ III is an anonymous Old English religious poem which forms the last part of Christ, a poetic triad found at the beginning of the Exeter Book. Christ III is found on fols. 20b–32a and constitutes lines 867–1664 of Christ in Krapp and Dobbie's Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records edition. The poem is concerned with the Second Coming of Christ (parousia) and the Last Judgment.

Sample

This passage, about fire engulfing the world at Judgement Day, gives a modern English translation of Christ III, lines 993–1013 (in the line-numbering of the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records):

Seoþeð swearta leg synne on fordonum,
ond goldfrætwe gleda forswelgað,
eall ærgestreon eþelcyninga.
Ðær bið cirm ond cearu, ond cwicra gewin,
gehreow ond hlud wop bi heofonwoman,
earmlic ælda gedreag. Þonan ænig ne mæg,
firendædum fah, frið gewinnan,
legbryne losian londes ower,
ac þæt fyr nimeð þurh foldan gehwæt,
græfeð grimlice, georne aseceð
innan ond utan eorðan sceatas,
oþþæt eall hafað ældes leoma
woruldwidles wom wælme forbærned.
Ðonne mihtig god on þone mæran beorg
mid þy mæstan mægenþrymme cymeð,
heofonengla cyning, halig scineð,
wuldorlic ofer weredum, waldende god,
ond hine ymbutan æþelduguð betast,
halge herefeðan, hlutre blicað,
eadig engla gedryht. Ingeþoncum
forhte beofiað fore fæder egsan.^[1]

The black flame will seethe sins among the corrupted,
And hot coals will devour gold ornaments,
All ancient wealth of worldly kings.
There will be uproar and grief, strife of the living,
Lamenting and wailing at the sound of heav’n:
Men’s wretched din. Thenceforth anyone
Stained by their sins cannot win peace,
Nor escape the firestorm across the land,
And that fire takes all throughout earth’s folds,
Cruelly carves out, eagerly seeks out,
Inside and outside earth’s projections,
Until the tongue of flame has swallowed all
Sounds of world-blight in its torrent.
Then mighty God upon that famed mountain
By means of that most great power will come,
Heav’n-angels’ king will shine holy,
Glorious beyond men, powerful God,
And about Him the noblest host,
A holy troop, will shine brightly,
A true angel-host. In their inner thoughts
They quake fearfully before the dread Father.

Other Old English eschatological poems

Blickling Homily nos. 7 and 10
Judgement Day I
Judgement Day II

Editions and translations

Krapp, George Philip, and Dobbie, E. V. K. (eds.) (1936) The Exeter Book. (The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records; 3.) New York: Columbia U. P.
Bradley, S. A. J. (tr.) (1982) Anglo-Saxon Poetry: an anthology of Old English poems in prose translation. London: Dent

References

^ The Exeter Book, ed. by George Philip Krapp and Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie, The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records: A Collective Edition, 3 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936).

External links

Apocalyptic Ideas in Old English Literature
The Old English poems, Christ I-III
A Modern English translation (PDF), by Charles W. Kennedy. From "In Parentheses".

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[1] The Exeter Book, ed. by George Philip Krapp and Elliott Van Kirk Dobbie, The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records: A Collective Edition, 3 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936).

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